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Creating a Character
'Step One: Planning Your Character ' The first step in creating a character is to decide what type of a character you want to play. The possibilities in the Hero@Heart are virtually endless. You can play as just about anything or anyone you can imagine, and a very good idea is to do just that right now: imagine the type of character you want to play, and then you can more easily begin to make choices as you design that character from the ground up in the steps to come. It is important to remember that there are no “classes” in this system, and anything that might resemble "races" such as in the Days of Old are here only as a basis. If you have seen a race elsewhere that you would like to play, bring it up to your GM and see if he can work with you on creating such a race. There is even the “Worldwalker” race if you want to choose that route, if races are even a viable option in the world your GM has planned for you. A great way to start your first character is to think of a character that you have seen in a movie or read about in a book that is the same genre your GM will be running. Your comrades may be a bit annoyed if you try to play as that character specifically, especially if it is a famous character from a famous work, but it can be very helpful to base your character on that and use it as a framework to get you started! Step Two: Attributes Each new character begins with 45 in all 12 of the standard attributes. This means, to start with, your character could be completely average across the board. But really, who wants an "average Joe" character. right? So, what you do now is assign the points you have where you want them most. For example, if you wanted to be a brutish Barbarian, you might subtract 10 points out of Intellect and 5 points out of Persona and pop all 15 of the points you just stole from your smarts and your personality and pop them into your Strength, leaving you an Intellect of 35, a Persona of 40, and a Strength of 55. You might also want to be tough, not just strong, and you doubt you'll care how well you can get along with people, so you take 30 more points out of Persona, leaving you with 10, and put ten more into Strength (giving you a STR of 65) and the remaining 20 into Fortitude, giving you 65 there as well. Now you're well on your way to playing a mighty Barbarian! An easier way to do this for some might be to take all the points out of everything and distribute them wherever you want. You would have 540 points to spend if you did it this way. Just remember that 45 is average! Note: No attribute can begin above 90 unless a racial bonus or Advantage allows it. No attribute can go below 10, at all. If a racial modifier would take one of your attributes below 10, you either need to spend some points to fix this or choose a different race. Also remember that you must spend all your attribute points now. They do not carry over. Step Three: Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages and Disadvantages are those special characteristics, some positive and some negative, that make your character who he or she is. Advantages , or Positive Characteristics, cost points to purchase. It is best to start with your Disadvantages (Negative Characteristics) first, because "purchasing" them actually gives you more points to spend, which can then be spent on both Advantages and Skills . Some Advantages and Disadvantages can also be purchased multiple times, in ranks. Four is usually the limit, but each has different rules regarding them. '''Limit on Disadvantages: '''Because a character could take so many Disadvantages that they could attain an unfair number of skill points from doing so, the total number of Disadvantages is limited based on the Luck score of the character. To find out how many Disadvantages a character can take, subtract their Luck score from 100. Ten percent of this number, rounded up, is the number of disadvantages they may take. For example, if your Luck were 60, then: 100 - 60 = 40 * .1 = 4 Thus, a character with a Luck of 60 could "purchase" 4 Disadvantages. Step Four: Skills The character at this stage begins with 100 Skill Points to spend, plus any additional points from any Disadvantages they purchased. These skill points may be used to purchase Advantages at the base cost given in the listing for the individual Advantage, or to purchase ranks in Skills (or, more commonly, both). Skills are actions or knowledge that the character has trained to possess, and therefore has a slightly better chance at succeeding than someone who is untrained. In some situations, such as operating scientific equipment, such an action can only be done trained, but the rule is to let the GM decide if unskilled use is permitted or not. Each rank a character has in a skill gives them a bonus of +5 to the target number of their roll when attempting to perform the skill, so the more ranks you have, the better your chances of success will be. However, no beginning character may purchase more than 5 ranks in any one skill. There is no initial cost to purchase a skill. Each rank costs only as much as the rank itself. Therefore, to purchase a skill at rank 1, it costs 1 Skill Point. To purchase a second rank would cost 2 more points, a total of 3. To purchase three ranks outright, one must spend as many points as though they were buying ranks one and two of the skill, and thus it would cost 1+2+3, or 6 total points to buy any skill at rank 3. See the Skill Purchase Chart to see how much it costs to buy skills all the way up to their maximum rank of 20. If there are any skill points left over, remember, you will lose them at this point if they are unspent. Step Five: Fleshing Out Your Character We’re almost to the very end now. Before we go any further, you should think very strongly about who your character is. Not what your character is, but who. What is its gender, skin color, eye color, hair style and color, height, weight, and personality? Is there a BACKSTORY? This could play in very importantly, as many Game Masters like to take the backstories given to them by their players and work them into the game itself, which can make for some pretty incredible and personalized adventures. Finally, and maybe most importantly of all, what is your name? Step Six: Gearing Up The next step is to decide what your character carries with them on a regular basis. This should be their personal effects, which they always have on them at all times and would be remiss if they lost. You may choose whatever it is you think they would have on them on a regular day out: clothes, a weapon and armor if they are in a fantasy setting, and any items of a personal nature your character may take wherever they go. You are not limited in what these things may be, and if Roger wants his knight-to-be to have full plate armor and a greatsword, he should be able to choose these things. However, you may only choose normal, nonmagical items, unless you have a special Positive Characteristic that allows for something better. Included in this equipment should not be things like rope, bags, rations, etc.. This is equipment your character would not always be carrying around, and this step is specifically for objects that belong to your character, that make him who he is. Your GM will normally allow you to be outfitted before your first mission (ordinarily by having the person who hires you for a job give you some money up front. This amount should be decided by the GM). Weaponry, unlike many other games, is not based on the power of the weapon itself, but rather on the personal preference of the player. The days of players saying “I want to use this wicked battleaxe, but this magic +15 dagger has better stats!” are over. Gone are players getting shot four times in the face with a combat shotgun and living, but having a strong enough butterknife hit them in the foot and dying. Players should select the type of weapon they want their characters to use because that is the weapon they think best suits their character. Realistic damage rules are in place, so any weapon you want to use in the game will probably have the capability of doing what it does in real life. Stay setting-specific, though… Don't bring a Star Captain laser pistol into the Days of Old unless there's a ''really ''good reason for it that your GM agrees with! A Note on Encumbrance: Hero@Heart does not include rules for carrying capacity. The player and GM should be able to say “Wait, it seems as though you’re carrying a little too much there… How could you possibly have all that in your hands and pockets. You don't even have a bag!” If the amount a character is lugging around with them seems a little too unrealistic, let them know, and if they are carrying a lot but not inconceivably, the GM may decide to impose some penalties or even secretly have them accidentally drop something! Step Seven: GM Approval Lastly, let your GM look over your character sheet and make sure thaty everything is in order. The main reason for this isn't really to catch mistakes, but to help the GM see who he'll be dealing with during the game. He should get a chance to look at every player's character, and should use this opportunity to start figuring out how he can best introduce you to each other, how he can best get you to work together as a team, and how he can give each of you opportunities to shine. Category:Character Creation